Cihan News Agency (CNA), Turkey
April 3, 2015 Friday

Comparison of Ukraine and Turkey from an international criminal law perspective

Ä°STANBUL (CÄ°HAN)- I’m in Odessa, Ukraine — a lovely city on the Black
Sea coast. I have come to the National University “Odessa Law Academy”
to lecture for one week under the exchange program Mevlana — a newly
enacted academic exchange program between Turkey and non-EU member
countries, as an alternative to the Erasmus program.

It was quite surprising for me to see such a well-established
atmosphere of law academics in Odessa. In fact, there are more than
17,000 students just focusing on law or law-related subjects in one
university. This makes the Odessa Law Academy one of the biggest law
schools in the world.

Yesterday, in my lecture, I wanted the students to think more freely
about possibilities that may change current situations. I asked them
several questions before letting them question me. Will the situation
of the Russia-Ukraine conflict remain the same if Ukraine becomes a
state party to the Rome Statute, thus implementing the International
Criminal Court (ICC)? What would be the risks or the consequences of a
development in which such a country takes control of a region of
another sovereign and independent country? What would be the situation
of the president, prime minister, ministers or heads of the general
staff, in particular?

I always ask similar questions in my lectures in Turkey: What would be
the position of Turkish foreign policy if Turkey becomes a state party
to the ICC? What consequences would we see over the Cyprus issue? What
impact could be expected over the Kurdish issue and peace process?
Would there be an effect on the Armenian Genocide recognition issue,
or would it bring a positive step to solve the problems between Turkey
and Armenia? What type of atrocities committed in northern Iraq or
Syria could be brought to the ICC?

We had fantastic discussions with young lawyer candidates about the
position of our countries. They are a group of people who can solve
the problems which we have created. We came to a common point,
agreeing that most of the time, we act with feelings in life. If we
start to leave our feelings aside and think with logic, the results
could be different. In Ukraine, I see that most people are angry with
both Ukrainian and Russian politics. It is very human, because we are
not robots, but it doesn’t help us much to solve the problems at all.
I saw that Ukraine and Russia are bound together, both historically
and traditionally. Before getting angry about a policy, we must try to
understand why the countries behave like they do. Although I am not an
expert on Russian foreign policy, as far as I know, Russians have a
“near abroad” policy, which implies them that the countries
neighboring Russia must stay within Russian influence. However, after
the collapse of the Soviet Union, most of the countries that gained
independence have today become NATO members. This helps to provide a
way to understand the Russian attitude toward Ukraine, and we know
that understanding a problem is the first step to solving it. Threat
perception, whether the threat is real or not, makes for illogical
behavior. We know the pathetic threat perception of Turkey and its
consequences for minorities.

This problem must be solved. We will see how it will happen and we
will see whether a solution satisfying to all sides is possible. I
will carry on with my answers in my next article but let me finish
with the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko’s words: “Everything
moves, everything passes, and there is no end. Where did it all
disappear? From where did it all come? Both the fool and the wise man
know nothing. One lives¦ one dies¦ one thing blooms.” We have to work
hard to see what blooms, even we have little chance of seeing it.

GÃ`NAL KURÅ?UN